Recently by Ben Hurst

One of the quirks of being a PC gamer is the inability to play games you've paid good money for.

The classics simply don't normally work on modern pcs - and even titles from just a few years ago, perhaps a Windows revision or two in the past grind to a halt when you try and boot them up.

Many a time I've got something out to have a blast from the past for it to freeze as soon as it's loading up.

What follows is a google trawl, as invariably people have had similar problems, and endless minor tweaks, downloads of programmes like Dosbox ensue, usually to no avail.

To your average user, the technical tinkering required quite simply means it's impossible to play your old games.

A recent bid to get X-Com Apocalypse to work ended in a similar tale of woe, with me lacking the energy or inclination to embark on another probably fruitless compatibility experimentation bonanza.

Now, in the past, I have been somewhat critical of the online delivery system Steam. Including here, and here.

However in this case I discovered that you could actually buy the whole X-Com series on Steam - meaning their technical bods had actually sat down and made it work on new systems!

Unfortunately this meant buying the thing for the second time - £8.99 for the pack - but some classic strat action can now ensue.

Now just need Steam to make X-Wing and Tie Fighter work again, and I'll be happy!

Sad news from space where it seems like the Phoenix Mars Lander has bitten the dust.

NASA has officially declared the three-legged spacecraft dead after repeated failed attempts to regain contact.

A recent image taken by an orbiting spacecraft appeared to show one of Phoenix's solar panels had collapsed from ice buildup.

Phoenix landed near the Martian north pole on May 25, 2008, and successfully operated for five months, two months longer than planned, until sunlight at its far northern location waned.

It's the nearest we're going to get to setting foot on another planet at the moment, in the absence of much funding for space exploration.

Here's a picture of the solar panel and the lander's Robotic Arm with a sample in the scoop on Mars. Yep a close up of another planet.

Does this sum up where our country now lies in the world?

In 1924 Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the world land speed record in the famous car Bluebird.

At the time it was not only about a 'world first' - it was also showing Britain off to the world.

Our cars were best, our engineering was best, we were forward thinking, and still at the forefront of technology.

Now Don Wales has set a new record - at Pendine Sands, in west Wales where his grandfather Sir Malcolm Campbell set his own record.

And what was Mr Wales driving? A lawnmower (hitting just over 86mph).

I suppose it probably reflects our manufacturing aspirations - Britain: At the Forefront of Racing Lawnmower Design.

Below: Don Wales and 'lawnmower'.

Below: Sir Malcolm Campbell with his second 'Bluebird' in 1933.

A "scrappage scheme" is to be launched to encourage people to upgrade their old analogue radios with new digital sets, it was announced today.

The "radio amnesty" which will begin on Saturday, will see participating retailers offer customers discounts of between 10% and 20% on new DAB digital radios.

The initiative developed by the BBC and commercial radio stations, draws inspiration from the Government's recent popular car scrappage scheme and will run until June 26.

A trainee accountant who posted a message on Twitter threatening to blow an airport "sky high" was found guilty today of sending a menacing electronic communication.

Paul Chambers, 26, claimed he sent the Tweet to his 600 "followers" in a moment of frustration after Robin Hood Airport, in South Yorkshire, was closed by snow in January.

But a district judge at Doncaster Magistrates Court ruled today the Tweet was "of a menacing nature in the context of the times in which we live".

Chambers was ordered to pay a £385 fine, a £15 victims surcharge and £600 costs.
The Tweet he sent in the early hours of January 6 said: "Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"

We all know the absurd works, as far as internet news stories go.

And that was certainly the case with a recent Salisbury Journal story which came with the enticing headline "Dog injures nose".

The story was about an incident where basically a puppy which was being walked in a park, ran off, and collided with another dog and its owner, receiving a sore nose.

And, er, that was it - but it garnered 130,000 hits on the first day and is still the most read story on the site, two weeks later, along with a multitude of comments from readers.

One of those who commented highlighted another 'non-story' which had caused an internet sensation.

This was, about, well....I think the headline really tells the story: "Whitstable mum in custard shortage". Yes, it was about a mum of three unable to buy custard powder in the Kent town of Whitstable to go with her apple and blackcurrant pudding.

Another famous example is again summed up by its headline, after which I'll comment no more: "Man wearing Adolf Hitler T-shirt robs Oklahoma City convenience store".

And a quick look on BBC News today reveals that the 2nd most shared story today is: "German man 'marries' his dying cat".

What are websites trying to do? Gain as much traffic as possible.

Appealing to a wider audience than people purely looking for local parochial news means that some stories which would never see the light of day should be posted online.

Journos think they 'know' what their readers want, but in the wacky world of the web it's possible to see what people are really reading.

Not particularly high technology but just something which annoyed me this morning (as well as being at work on a Sunday).

Into the paper's email box drops a press release for Specsavers promoting their Spectacle Wearer of the Year 2010competition.

Not unusually for a pr campaign it's being fronted by a lovely lady - in this case Kelly Brook.

Now, it transpires that the Kelster (pictured left in the pr shot for the campaign) has always been 'envious' of people who wear glasses (that's right the face of 'spectacle wearer of the year' doesn't wear bins!).

As a glasses wearer nothing annoys me more than people wearing the things who don't need to.

Perfect vision but, in the words of, as she is described in the press release, the 'The 30-year-old curvaceous brunette, and girlfriend of handsome England rugby star Danny Cipriani', "I see glasses very much as a fashion accessory and a way to stamp my own style."

Ah vanity....(not at all induced by a big cheque from Specsavers)

Stoke on Trent rock legend Slash has revealed that social networking site twitter helped him give up smoking.

The guitarist, who, during his entire career has almost never been seen without a cigarette between his lips (and a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand) made the admission during an interview with fasterlauder.com/au.

Slash said of twitter: "I love it! I hate the name of it though. It's such a stupid f****** name. If it was called something else it would be great.

"It's really cool to know where your fans are coming from. You can give out accurate information from the horse's mouth without relying on press releases and publications. And just being direct with them, without having to go through the hassles of meeting on the street, or having them come to my house!. It's very personal. I also realise that it's taken the place of smoking. I worked that out the other day, because it gives me something to do with my hands."

"It's been almost a year. I haven't been on the road as a non-smoker proper though, I don't know if I can handle it. I don't have any vices left now."

So there you have it - even the Slasher's taken up the social networking phenomenon (Catch him at: http://twitter.com/Slash)

Follow technobabble at: http://twitter.com/BenHurst

Oh - and get Slash's new album (released on May10 - it's great!)

Twitter is proving to be a useful social networking phenomenon for journalists.

By this I mean that it provides excellent opportunities for celebrities, politicians, footballers etc to firmly put their foot in their mouth.

After all we're had Labour parliamentary candidate Stuart MacLennan sacked for tweeting offensive four letter word packed remarks about MPs, the speaker of the House of Commons and even Jedward.

Not to mention Darren Bent who's rant on the website against Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy during his stalled move to Sunderland provoked a row.

Celebrities such as Britney Spears and Hugh Jackman have outraged the Twitter community by being shown to have put their 'tweets' in the hands of their employees - on this site people want reality!

The thing I like about it, is the 'send comments in hot blood, repent at leisure' style, which gives it an immediacy.

Of course you can delete your comments, but by then, if you're well known, any journalist worth his salt will have taken screen grabs as evidence!

Celebrities, sportsman etc are always complaining about being misquoted, but are often being caught out for comments which are seen and scrutinised by millions first hand.

It takes me back to the 'icons' websites which footballers had a few years ago so they could put out their own views and opinions straight from the horses mouth.

When people had the temerity to quote said opinions people got a bit upset, although they couldn't really claim to be misquoted. As a Newcastle fan I remember winger Lauren Robert's regular criticism of managers and teammates, but when the press quoted his views in stories, it came as a major surprise to him.

Still, as long as people are directly putting their views up, it will be a great resource for fans to get closer to the views of their heroes - however unpalatable their opinions may turn out to be.

Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/BenHurst

Con men have been operating in the country trying to get people to hand over cash to deal with fake computer problems.

Trading standards officers have issued a warning about the firm - known as supportonclick who basically cold call computer users and claim be representing Microsoft.

Their tactic is to convince the user that something is wrong with their PC and purchase software that they do not actually need.

The fraudsters use leading, generalised questioning techniques that often have the effect of convincing the user that their individual circumstances are known to the calling company.

Callers often know the user's name, giving them greater plausibility.

I must declare a personal interest in this as a family member was taken in by this company - like the old saying goes about never signing up to anything on the doorstep, never sign up to anything coming from an unsolicited call on the phone either!

Anyone who thinks they have been contacted by supportonclick, is being urged to report it to Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.